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Fifth Crusade
The Crusades were a series of military campaigns waged by much of Christian Europe. The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was an attempt to take back Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Ayyubid state in Egypt. Somewhere between the years 1218 A.D. and 1221 A.D., Nicolas de Brabant—a young knight serving as aide to Sir Raymond DeLabarre in Wales—was framed for murder. His lord negotiated an alternative to trial: De Brabant would instead be permitted to take the cross (i.e. go on crusade).Queen of Harps He spent some time in the Holy Land, being wounded at least once, badly, during a battle near a Moorish castle.Last Act In 1228, bitterly disillusioned by his experiences, he returned to Europe. He was in Paris when he met Janette DuCharme, a fascinating young woman whose vampire condition she concealed until after she had seduced him. Then she introduced him to her master, Lucien LaCroix, who offered to bring him over. The knight accepted the offer.Dance by the Light of the Moon Opening Stages In spring 1213, Pope Innocent III called all of Christendom to join a new crusade. Although the kings and emperors of Europe were preoccupied with fighting among themselves, he actually preferred to aim his message at the general populace, because a previous crusade led by kings had failed in the past. Innocent planned for the crusaders to meet at Brindisi in 1216. Every crusader would receive an indulgence, including those who simply helped pay the expenses of a crusader but did not go on crusade themselves. King Andrew II of Hungary and his troops landed in Cyprus on 9 October 1217, from where they sailed to Acre and joined the rulers of the Kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Antioch in the battle against Moslem forces in Syria. Jerusalem was easily retaken, since the city walls were demolished to make it indefensible when occupied, and the inhabitants fled the city in advance of the crusading army, afraid that there would be a repeat of the bloodbath of the First Crusade in 1099. Although Andrew's army achieved another victory in a battle at Bethsaida on the Jordan River on November 10, the Moslem forces simply retreated into their remaining fortresses. With inadequate siege weaons, Andrew spent his energy in fruitless assaults on the fortresses. After that, his army returned home in February 1218. Later in 1218, Oliver of Cologne and William I, count of Holland, arrived with new armies. They allied with Keykavus I, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum in Anatolia, who attacked the Ayyubids in Syria. Meanwhile, the Crusaders planned to attack Damietta in Egypt. This alliance freed the Crusaders from fighting on two fronts. Siege of Damietta In June of 1218 the crusaders began their siege of Damietta, and captured the tower outside the city on August 25. However, they could not gain Damietta itself; and, in the ensuing months, many of the crusaders were killed by disease. In 1219, the new pope, Honorius III, sent a Benedictine cardinal, Pelagius of Albano, to lead the crusade. The ruler of Egypt, Al-Kamil, tried to negotiate peace with the crusaders, offering to trade Damietta for Jerusalem. Pelagius refused. After hearing this, Count William I of Holland left the crusade and sailed home. In August or September of 1219 Francis of Assisi arrived on a pilgrimage of non-violence to Egypt. Crossing the lines, he was taken captive and brought to Sultan Al-Kamil. There, Francis challenged Moslem scholars to a test of true religion by fire, proposing that he enter the fire first, on condition that, if he left the fire unharmed, the sultan would have to recognize Christ as the true God. The Moslem scholars refused to take part in such an arcane ritual. Nevertheless, the sultan was so impressed that he allowed Francis to preach to his subjects, and then let him leave peacefully. By November, the crusaders had worn out Al-Kamil's forces, and were finally able to occupy the port. Immediately the papal and secular powers fought for control. In 1220, John of Brienne claimed the town for himself. Pelagius would not accept this; and John returned to Acre later that year. Pelagius hoped Frederick II of Germany—who had promised to go on crusade—would arrive with a fresh army, but he never did. Instead, after a year of inactivity in both Syria and Egypt, John of Brienne returned. The crusaders marched south towards Cairo in July 1221. The crusader march to Cairo was disastrous. First, the Nile flooded ahead of them, stopping the crusader advance. Then Al-Kamil opened dykes to flood a dry canal that the crusaders had previously crossed, thus blocking their retreat. Finally, he attacked them by night. Crusader losses were enormous. The terms of surrender meant relinquishing Damietta to Al-Kamil in exchange for the release of the crusaders. Al-Kamil agreed to an eight year peace agreement with Europe. ::Adapted from the Wikipedia article on the Fifth Crusade. See also: * Amy's Forever Knight Canon/Crusades Alignment List of References Category:Historical Background